Beauty and the Doom
by Miss Shallott
Summary: An AU slash tale of Doom and Reed, based on Beauty and the Beast. Rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the land of Latveria, there lived a king. His name was King Victor Von Doom. King Victor had the biggest castle in all the lands, and the most servants. But he was not happy. In fact, he was the most unhappy person in all the lands.

King Victor Von Doom wanted nothing more than to have all the wisdom in the land, so that he could bring his mother back from the realm of the dead. He devoted every moment of his time to finding sources of wisdom, stopping only to eat or sleep. When he did not find the wisdom he searched for, he would lash out against his servants and throw anything he could reach.

There was only one thing that made King Victor happy. Every night, before he went to bed, he would look at himself in the mirror. King Victor was the most handsome man in all of Latveria. Every night, he would look at his reflection, and that was the only time of day that he smiled.

One stormy night, an old woman came to the castle to seek shelter from the storm. The servants opened the door, and told her she could not come in. The old woman did not move. The servants said that they could not let her in, even though they wanted to. They did not want to make the king angry. The old woman asked if she could speak with the king; perhaps convince him to let her stay.

The servants went to get King Victor, just as he was gazing at himself in the mirror. He was so angry at being interrupted that he did not throw anything at his servants. He stormed down through the castle, and when he got to the door he told the woman that she was a fool to ever think her kind would be allowed in the castle Doom.

The old woman drew a stick from within her cloak and struck King Victor across the face with it. King Victor yelped and tried to draw back, but it was too late. An angry red scar burned across his eyebrow, all the way to his chin.

The old woman cackled, and said: "You care about none but yourself and your handsome face. You treat your servants as mindless beings, and so they shall become mindless beings!" Victor watched in horror as his servants turned to stone, each with a green jewel on their chests. The old woman reached out and touched his scar, saying, "This scar will remain until you learn to care for someone else, and they care for you in return!"

King Victor bellowed with rage and charged the old woman. He struck her many times, until she finally stopped moving. King Victor then turned around and raced to his bed chamber, where he beheld himself in the mirror. He could not look upon himself and threw the mirror to the ground. He then went to the armoury, and found a metal mask. He put it on at once, and drew a green cape around himself.

King Victor did not want to find a person to care for. He only scarcely cared that his servants had been transformed in golems. He decided that he would continue his search for wisdom, for as surely as there was a spell to make his scar, there would be one to unmake it.

Many years passed in this way, until King Victor heard of an inventor from a small town in a nearby land. And here, our story begins.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors notes: Sorry to take so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter of Beauty and the Doom. Thank you to elyador, The Side boob hour and Pheonix Reaper for their support of this story so far. It is them I dedicate this chapter to. Enjoy

-Kelsey Jay

Chapter One

The bright sun shone down on the village of Baxter. Reed Richards looked out of his window in disappointment. He was hoping for rain, so he could test his latest invention. He had invented a system that would purify the rain water as it fell, using the power of the water itself. He only needed the rain to prove that it would work.

Reed was known all throughout the town as being helpful and wise, if not a little absent minded. Whenever the town had a problem, they would go to Reed and he would invent something to fix the problem. He loved to learn new things and was always ready to gain new wisdom. It was said that Reed was the smartest man in all the lands, and he was always getting visitors who wanted to share their science with him. Reed hoped that one day he would be able to cure his dearest friend Benjamin Grimm of his strange ailment. His dear friend Ben had experienced burns to his skin one day when Baxter was attacked and tonics from Reed's laboratory spilled onto his skin. Reed blamed himself and decided he would not rest until he could cure Ben's ailment.

If the sun was shining, he decided, he would just work on another invention. However, he did not know what to invent. The town was doing well and had no problems. He had made a new batch of skin tonic the night before for Ben. Reed wanted to invent something amazing so he could impress Susan Storm, the daughter of the town doctor. He knew other men in town had their eye on her, and that they were bigger and stronger than he. He could not think of any inventions that would be good enough.

He caught a glimpse of Ben coming to his house, so he paused his thinking and went to prepare his skin tonic. Ben was not walking calmly as he usually did. He was running to the house and came in without knocking.

"We gotta get out of here, egghead!" Ben said. "Johnny Storm spotted horses coming over the hill outside of town!"

"Are you sure this isn't one of his pranks?" Reed asked.

Ben shook his head. "Nope. I went to look too, and these horses…their riders ain't like anything I've seen before. They got this jewel in the middle of their chest, and they're carrying weapons unlike anything else." Ben saw curiosity light up in Reed's eyes. "We have to get out of here, Reed. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"But the skin tonic…"

"I can put it on later. We have to get where it's safe." Ben grabbed Reed's arm. "We need to get to the center of town, to the fortress you made."

Reed had built a fortress to keep the townspeople safe if any enemies came. Reed and Ben ran to the fortress and got inside. The towns people were readying their weapons, mostly ones that Reed had invented. He looked around and saw Susan. She was not afraid, and he decided that he would not be either. As the horses got closer, Reed saw that they were completely made of stone except for the jewel on their chest. They showed no emotion as they came into town. Then Reed noticed the man leading them. He was dressed in armour from his head to his feet, and a green cape with a hood blew in the wind behind him. What struck Reed most, though, was his face, which was covered in a metal mask.

The horses stopped in front of the fortress, and the armoured man got off the horse and walked until he was directly in front of it. He showed no fear of the weapons pointed at him. He himself carried no weapon, which was the only thing keeping the townspeople from shooting at him.

"I have come for the man called Reed Richards!" said the armoured man. "Send him out immediately! So says King Victor Von Doom!"

The towns people were not sure how to respond, so they said nothing. Ben snickered. "King Doom, eh?" He muttered.

The King raised his hand, and his golems aimed their weapons at the fortress. "I will ask again," he said, "Send out Reed Richards!"

The towns people were afraid, and prepared to fight. Reed knew that the fight would end with much bloodshed. He did not think that the stone people would be harmed by his inventions, and that many of them would be hurt if they tried to fight the king. Reed Richards stepped out of the fortress.

"I am Reed Richards!" he said. The armoured man walked to him and circled him, observing his every move.

"Humpf. So this is the smartest man in all the land." Scoffed Victor. "I am in need of your assistance, Reed Richards. You will come with me to my castle at once."

"What?!" Ben Grimm stepped out as well, rushing to Reed's side. "I don't care who you are, he's not going anywhere with you."

Victor raised his hand and a strange green bolt struck Ben, knocking him to the ground. Susan Storm ran out, carrying her father's doctor bag. Reed assumed that Doctor Storm was too afraid to come out. She helped Ben back to his feet and glared at Victor.

"You must be the famous Benjamin Grimm." Victor said. "Very well. If Reed Richards will not go with me, then you will."

"Just who do you think you are?" snapped Susan Storm. "You can't just take people from their homes and families. Some King you are!"

Victor dismounted his horse and walked up to her. Reed was sure that Susan would be hurt, and he moved to protect her. Doom raised his hand as if to strike her, and Reed stepped in front. Victor stepped back, lowering his arm.

"Dear lady," he said, "be grateful that I am performing the courtesy of asking." As he spoke, his riders dismounted their horses and pointed their strange weapons at Susan and Ben. "For your insolence, I will take you as well. Your company will be…lovely." Susan and Reed cringed at the tone Victor's voice had taken.

"Stop this, King Victor Von Doom!" Reed Richards walked up to Victor to look him in the eye. He saw anger and pride in his eyes, but he also saw desperation. He felt pity for this strange King. "I will go with you. Just leave my friends be."

King Victor raised his hand and his riders resumed their places on their horses. "I accept your change of heart, Reed Richards. Gather your things, and we will leave immediately.

As Reed began to pack his equiptment, Ben and Susan tried to talk him out of going with Doom. "Reed, you can't go!" Susan begged. "Think of Ben. Who will help his ailment? Baxter needs you, Reed. I need you."

"Come on Egghead, you don't even know this guy! How do you even know he's really a king?"

Reed sighed. "Ben, you have enough skin tonic, right?" Ben nodded. "I won't be long. I will help this man and come home before you run out."

Ben shook his head. "I can't believe you, egghead. But I can't stop you, neither."

Reed reached out and held Susan's hand. "Don't worry about me, Susan. He needs me for something. He mentioned the rumours of my status as the smartest man in the land. He must need help with a complex problem. I have to solve it."

"That's not all, is it?" Susan asked. "You must think he's suffering. You always have to help people."

Reed was shocked that she had noticed his compassion. He had never thought that anyone noticed him outside of his inventions. It was becoming an increasingly odd day. "There was desperation in his eyes. If such a powerful man is desperate, something must be wrong."

"You are the smartest man in the land, Reed." Said Ben. "If anyone can help this king guy, you can." Susan nodded.

Reed smiled at his friends. "See? I'll be fine. How bad can this King be?"

Reed came out with his boxes and bags. Doom looked through the bags and boxes, and began smashing his things.

"What are you doing?!" Reed rushed to his things and tried to swat Doom's hands away. "Those are my isntruments!"

"They are inferior." Said King Victor dismissively. "I will provide you with superior equipment. All you need is the skin tonic."

"But Ben needs it!" Reed protested. "May I just bring the formula? You can provide me with," Reed felt annoyance as he said, "superior ingrediants."

It looked as if King Victor would actually strike Reed, but instead he nodded. "Very well, Reed Richards. Come." A rider brought Reed his own horse, as well as one to carry the formulas as there was a great many of them. The horse was tied to King Victors. "You will be following me, Reed Richards. You are tethered to me. If you even think of running away, the horse will stop on command and you will be thrown. I shudder to think of the damage that could cause."

Reed nodded, getting on his horse. He turned to look at Ben and Susan, and as he was waving goodbye, the horse began to move. King Victor turned his head around, and Reed could swear that the masked man was smirking under his mask.

'Some king.' He thought. 'more like a spoiled Prince.'

Victor's scar stung in the sudden wind. He looked back at the simple inventor, who was glancing around at the forest. He hated the man already.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors notes: Sorry to take so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter of Beauty and the Doom. Thank you to elyador, The Side boob hour and Pheonix Reaper for their support of this story so far. It is them I dedicate this chapter to. Enjoy

-Kelsey Jay

Chapter One

The bright sun shone down on the village of Baxter. Reed Richards looked out of his window in disappointment. He was hoping for rain, so he could test his latest invention. He had invented a system that would purify the rain water as it fell, using the power of the water itself. He only needed the rain to prove that it would work.

Reed was known all throughout the town as being helpful and wise, if not a little absent minded. Whenever the town had a problem, they would go to Reed and he would invent something to fix the problem. He loved to learn new things and was always ready to gain new wisdom. It was said that Reed was the smartest man in all the lands, and he was always getting visitors who wanted to share their science with him. Reed hoped that one day he would be able to cure his dearest friend Benjamin Grimm of his strange ailment. His dear friend Ben had experienced burns to his skin one day when Baxter was attacked and tonics from Reed's laboratory spilled onto his skin. Reed blamed himself and decided he would not rest until he could cure Ben's ailment.

If the sun was shining, he decided, he would just work on another invention. However, he did not know what to invent. The town was doing well and had no problems. He had made a new batch of skin tonic the night before for Ben. Reed wanted to invent something amazing so he could impress Susan Storm, the daughter of the town doctor. He knew other men in town had their eye on her, and that they were bigger and stronger than he. He could not think of any inventions that would be good enough.

He caught a glimpse of Ben coming to his house, so he paused his thinking and went to prepare his skin tonic. Ben was not walking calmly as he usually did. He was running to the house and came in without knocking.

"We gotta get out of here, egghead!" Ben said. "Johnny Storm spotted horses coming over the hill outside of town!"

"Are you sure this isn't one of his pranks?" Reed asked.

Ben shook his head. "Nope. I went to look too, and these horses…their riders ain't like anything I've seen before. They got this jewel in the middle of their chest, and they're carrying weapons unlike anything else." Ben saw curiosity light up in Reed's eyes. "We have to get out of here, Reed. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"But the skin tonic…"

"I can put it on later. We have to get where it's safe." Ben grabbed Reed's arm. "We need to get to the center of town, to the fortress you made."

Reed had built a fortress to keep the townspeople safe if any enemies came. Reed and Ben ran to the fortress and got inside. The towns people were readying their weapons, mostly ones that Reed had invented. He looked around and saw Susan. She was not afraid, and he decided that he would not be either. As the horses got closer, Reed saw that they were completely made of stone except for the jewel on their chest. They showed no emotion as they came into town. Then Reed noticed the man leading them. He was dressed in armour from his head to his feet, and a green cape with a hood blew in the wind behind him. What struck Reed most, though, was his face, which was covered in a metal mask.

The horses stopped in front of the fortress, and the armoured man got off the horse and walked until he was directly in front of it. He showed no fear of the weapons pointed at him. He himself carried no weapon, which was the only thing keeping the townspeople from shooting at him.

"I have come for the man called Reed Richards!" said the armoured man. "Send him out immediately! So says King Victor Von Doom!"

The towns people were not sure how to respond, so they said nothing. Ben snickered. "King Doom, eh?" He muttered.

The King raised his hand, and his golems aimed their weapons at the fortress. "I will ask again," he said, "Send out Reed Richards!"

The towns people were afraid, and prepared to fight. Reed knew that the fight would end with much bloodshed. He did not think that the stone people would be harmed by his inventions, and that many of them would be hurt if they tried to fight the king. Reed Richards stepped out of the fortress.

"I am Reed Richards!" he said. The armoured man walked to him and circled him, observing his every move.

"Humpf. So this is the smartest man in all the land." Scoffed Victor. "I am in need of your assistance, Reed Richards. You will come with me to my castle at once."

"What?!" Ben Grimm stepped out as well, rushing to Reed's side. "I don't care who you are, he's not going anywhere with you."

Victor raised his hand and a strange green bolt struck Ben, knocking him to the ground. Susan Storm ran out, carrying her father's doctor bag. Reed assumed that Doctor Storm was too afraid to come out. She helped Ben back to his feet and glared at Victor.

"You must be the famous Benjamin Grimm." Victor said. "Very well. If Reed Richards will not go with me, then you will."

"Just who do you think you are?" snapped Susan Storm. "You can't just take people from their homes and families. Some King you are!"

Victor dismounted his horse and walked up to her. Reed was sure that Susan would be hurt, and he moved to protect her. Doom raised his hand as if to strike her, and Reed stepped in front. Victor stepped back, lowering his arm.

"Dear lady," he said, "be grateful that I am performing the courtesy of asking." As he spoke, his riders dismounted their horses and pointed their strange weapons at Susan and Ben. "For your insolence, I will take you as well. Your company will be…lovely." Susan and Reed cringed at the tone Victor's voice had taken.

"Stop this, King Victor Von Doom!" Reed Richards walked up to Victor to look him in the eye. He saw anger and pride in his eyes, but he also saw desperation. He felt pity for this strange King. "I will go with you. Just leave my friends be."

King Victor raised his hand and his riders resumed their places on their horses. "I accept your change of heart, Reed Richards. Gather your things, and we will leave immediately.

As Reed began to pack his equiptment, Ben and Susan tried to talk him out of going with Doom. "Reed, you can't go!" Susan begged. "Think of Ben. Who will help his ailment? Baxter needs you, Reed. I need you."

"Come on Egghead, you don't even know this guy! How do you even know he's really a king?"

Reed sighed. "Ben, you have enough skin tonic, right?" Ben nodded. "I won't be long. I will help this man and come home before you run out."

Ben shook his head. "I can't believe you, egghead. But I can't stop you, neither."

Reed reached out and held Susan's hand. "Don't worry about me, Susan. He needs me for something. He mentioned the rumours of my status as the smartest man in the land. He must need help with a complex problem. I have to solve it."

"That's not all, is it?" Susan asked. "You must think he's suffering. You always have to help people."

Reed was shocked that she had noticed his compassion. He had never thought that anyone noticed him outside of his inventions. It was becoming an increasingly odd day. "There was desperation in his eyes. If such a powerful man is desperate, something must be wrong."

"You are the smartest man in the land, Reed." Said Ben. "If anyone can help this king guy, you can." Susan nodded.

Reed smiled at his friends. "See? I'll be fine. How bad can this King be?"

Reed came out with his boxes and bags. Doom looked through the bags and boxes, and began smashing his things.

"What are you doing?!" Reed rushed to his things and tried to swat Doom's hands away. "Those are my isntruments!"

"They are inferior." Said King Victor dismissively. "I will provide you with superior equipment. All you need is the skin tonic."

"But Ben needs it!" Reed protested. "May I just bring the formula? You can provide me with," Reed felt annoyance as he said, "superior ingrediants."

It looked as if King Victor would actually strike Reed, but instead he nodded. "Very well, Reed Richards. Come." A rider brought Reed his own horse, as well as one to carry the formulas as there was a great many of them. The horse was tied to King Victors. "You will be following me, Reed Richards. You are tethered to me. If you even think of running away, the horse will stop on command and you will be thrown. I shudder to think of the damage that could cause."

Reed nodded, getting on his horse. He turned to look at Ben and Susan, and as he was waving goodbye, the horse began to move. King Victor turned his head around, and Reed could swear that the masked man was smirking under his mask.

'Some king.' He thought. 'more like a spoiled Prince.'

Victor's scar stung in the sudden wind. He looked back at the simple inventor, who was glancing around at the forest. He hated the man already.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

King Victor had never believed in using niceties to get what he wanted. He was, after all, a King. But the next day, when Reed Richards had eaten only one meal, the King began to consider it.

King Victor made his way to the East Wing. He could swear that the eyes of his servants followed his flowing cape and his footsteps.

He swung open the door to find Reed Richards excitedly darting about his laboratory, from the metallurgy devices to the brewery. The inventor was chattering excitedly to himself, fumbling with gears and a wrench as he raced about.

"The coils should be ready soon, just need to attach…there we go, and now…much better…now just tighten here and…"

"Richards!" bellowed King Victor. "What is the meaning of this!?"

The inventor continued to babble, oblivious of whom he was speaking to. "Oh, it's just an automatic arm device that should be able to feed me while I work, so I don't have to stop to eat! I don't know why I haven't thought of this before, but I guess I didn't have any metallurgy equipment…" Richards began to slow when he realised that the King was before him, and appeared to be glaring at him. He shut his mouth immediately.

"I didn't realise that you were so…dedicated, to your work." King Victor said.

"I always have been." Said Richards. "I don't eat nearly as I should, for I am always working. I only want to work as fast as I can so that you can have a cure for your ailment and I can go home to Baxter."

"Ah yes, Baxter." The King said, coming further into the room to look at the invention. "This is quite…remarkable. Quaint and useless in any other situation, but it is remarkable." The King attempted to ignore the smile that Richards attempted to supress. "And this will help you to work faster?"

"If it works." Said Reed.

King Victor nodded. "Very well, then. I will permit you to invent devices to help you in your task, but on one condition- you are to eat three meals a day and drink two cups of water with every meal."

"I believe I can manage that." Said Reed. "Thank you, your majesty."

King Victor was taken aback, but did not show it. Reed continued. "Is the skin tonic working?"

"Yes." Said King Victor. It had worked better than any other remedy he had tried, but he would not tell the inventor of that.

"I am glad of that." Said Reed. "I hope to start on another batch soon. If you…" he paused, afraid of what the King might say, "If you could tell me of your ailment, I may be able to make a better batch. I cannot really cure what I do not even know."

King Victor growled. The King hated talking about his scar. But he supposed that if the inventor was to help him, he must know. "What does Ben Grimm suffer from?"

"Scars from a terrible burn." Said Reed quietly. "It is my fault he received it."

King Victor ignored Reed's laments. "I do not suffer from a burn scar, though it is a scar that I seek to be rid of."

Reed looked thoughtful for a moment. "Then that would be why the skin tonic is working so well. What is your scar from?"

"I do not know it's origin." Said King Victor.

"How do you have a scar and you do not know it's origin?" Reed asked, almost exasperatedly. King Victor growled.

"I have tolerated your insolence for too long, Richards. My patience grows thin."

Reed was openly taken aback. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise…"

"That's 'I'm sorry, your majesty'" spat King Victor. "I tire of your foolishness, peasant." King Victor spun and left, slamming the doors behind him.


End file.
